DEMING – If community is the tie that binds then nowhere is that binding tighter than Deming, New Mexico, according to the family of Kendra Hensley.

Kendra, 12, suffered a pediatric stroke back in December of 2017 during a youth league basketball practice at Deming High School. Her father Kevin Hensley, a firefighter/paramedic with the Deming Fire Department, was on-call that day and responded.

“It was the worst day of my life,” Hensley said of receiving the call and seeing his daughter in that state. “It was hard, but I still had to treat her with 100 percent of my training and what I had to give her as her dad. I was trained appropriately to take care of her and get her to where she needed to be.”

Kendra was airlifted by Native Air 30 out of the Deming Airport and flown to El Paso Children’s Hospital. Doctors performed the surgery to remove a blood clot that caused the stroke. “She had no movement,” Hensley said. “Then after a few days, she could move a toe. Slowly, but surely, she was coming back; saying a word. She knows what she wants to say, but has trouble saying the words. It’s call Aphasia.”

She was diagnosed as having suffered a pediatric stroke called “Internal Carotid Dissection. “This is basically a blockage in the carotid artery,” Hensley said. “The artery tears and a clot forms that is eventually pushed further downstream.”

A medical team in Albuquerque said she had a better chance of winning the lottery twice, than surviving the stroke and making a full recovery.

“It’s amazing how she has been able to slowly make her way back,” said Kendra’s mother Ofelia Hensley. “I can’t say thank you enough for the outpouring of love and support by our community. Their support has been my baby’s strength.”

The family, spearheaded by Kendra’s grandfather, Francisco Herrera, and the support of the community, came out in force two weeks ago in support of Kendra. Sun Valley True-Value Hardware Store at 1700 S. Columbus Road, donated a Yeti 65-quart cooler for a raffle that was held at the store in support of Kendra and her family’s medical expenses. The cooler retails for $499 and was won by Ryan “Bug” Smrkovsky of San Angelo, TX.

Kendra is currently traveling to Albuquerque twice a week for physical and speech therapy. Medical expense and travel have taken a toll on the family’s financial situation and fundraising within the community has been a huge part of paying the bills.

“Thank you from the bottom of our hearts to our many, many family members, friends and to the entire town of Deming who continue to support us with beautiful cards, gifts for our Kendra, phone calls, caring text messages and donations towards Kendra's medical fund. The continued outpouring of love and support from everyone is beyond amazing,” said Ofelia.
“We embarked on this difficult journey half a year ago when our lives changed forever that fateful day. We know that we have a long road ahead of us towards Kendra's complete recovery, but we have never been alone since the very beginning and we never will be alone because we have all of you.